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St. Cloud State University theRepository at St. Cloud State Culminating Projects in Information Assurance Department of Information Systems 3-2016 Creating Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Using Xen Desktop 7.1 and Vsphere 5.1 Aakash Bhandari [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: hps://repository.stcloudstate.edu/msia_etds is Starred Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Information Systems at theRepository at St. Cloud State. It has been accepted for inclusion in Culminating Projects in Information Assurance by an authorized administrator of theRepository at St. Cloud State. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Bhandari, Aakash, "Creating Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Using Xen Desktop 7.1 and Vsphere 5.1" (2016). Culminating Projects in Information Assurance. 80. hps://repository.stcloudstate.edu/msia_etds/80

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Page 1: Creating Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Using Xen Desktop

St. Cloud State UniversitytheRepository at St. Cloud State

Culminating Projects in Information Assurance Department of Information Systems

3-2016

Creating Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Using XenDesktop 7.1 and Vsphere 5.1Aakash [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/msia_etds

This Starred Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Information Systems at theRepository at St. Cloud State. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Culminating Projects in Information Assurance by an authorized administrator of theRepository at St. Cloud State. For moreinformation, please contact [email protected].

Recommended CitationBhandari, Aakash, "Creating Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Using Xen Desktop 7.1 and Vsphere 5.1" (2016). Culminating Projects inInformation Assurance. 80.https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/msia_etds/80

Page 2: Creating Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Using Xen Desktop

Creating Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Using Xen Desktop 7.1 and Vsphere 5.1

by

Aakash D. Bhandari

A Starred Paper

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of

St. Cloud State University

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree

Master of Science in

Information Assurance

March, 2019

Starred Paper Committee:

Dennis Guster, Chairperson

Susantha Herath

Christine Metzo

Page 3: Creating Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Using Xen Desktop

2

Abstract

Technology now demands secure centralized management of their services. Desktop

virtualization allows isolation of the operating system and desktop using Xen Desktop. Now the

users of any organization could connect to their own desktops from anywhere and from any

client device. Xen Desktop delivers windows applications and desktops as secure mobile service

and is capable of delivering full desktops or the applications that are required. It offers storefront

software which allows the users to self-service what they wanted. This paper solely focuses on

building a Virtual desktop infrastructure, a cloud-ready Desktop as a Service platform using

which a company can reduce the cost, time for management and patching the desktops along

with independence for applications.

Keywords: desktop virtualization, virtual desktop infrastructure

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3

Table of Contents

Page

List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... 4

List of Acronyms .................................................................................................................. 5

Chapter

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 7

Problem Statement ............................................................................................ 7

2. Background and Literature Review .......................................................................... 9

Desktop Virtualization ...................................................................................... 9

Architecture ....................................................................................................... 10

What has Changed? ........................................................................................... 15

3. Methodology ............................................................................................................. 25

Working of Xen Desktop .................................................................................. 25

Setup Process Flowchart ................................................................................... 26

Hardware and Software Requirements .............................................................. 27

Implementation .................................................................................................. 28

Xen Desktop Installation ................................................................................... 45

4. Analysis of Results ................................................................................................... 79

5. Discussion and Conclusion ....................................................................................... 81

Future Work Recommendation ......................................................................... 86

References ............................................................................................................................ 88

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List of Figures

Figure Page

1. Citrix XenDesktop 7 Architecture ............................................................................ 10

2. Xen desktop overview ............................................................................................... 12

3. ESXi architectures .................................................................................................... 22

4. vCenter ...................................................................................................................... 23

5. High-level architecture of HA .................................................................................. 23

6. Working of DRS ....................................................................................................... 24

7. Xen desktop process flowchart ................................................................................. 26

8. Components of Xen desktop 7 .................................................................................. 27

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List of Acronyms

VDI: Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

IT: Information Technology

CPU: Central Processing Unit

VM: Virtual Machine

OS: Operating system

VDA: Virtual Delivery Agent

UPM: User Profile Management

FMA: Flexcast Management Architecture

SaaS: Software as a Service

AMD: Advanced Micro Devices

PC: Personal Computer

SSL: Secure Socket Layer

VPN: Virtual Private Network

DMZ: Demilitarized Zone

WAN: Wide Area Network

LAN: Local Area Network

DDC: Delivery Controller

XA: XenApp

XD: XenDesktop

XML: Extensible Markup Language

IIS: Internet Information Services

DA: Delivery Agent

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6

HA: High Availability

DRS: Distributed Resource Scheduler

LUN: Logical Unit Number

RAM: Random Access Memory

AD: Active Directory

AWS: Amazon Web Services

iSCSI: Internet Small Computer System Interface

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Desktop virtualization makes the desktops run centrally on the server and typically

establishes a client-server model computing. The end user will have a client installed on their

machines, which they can access the running desktop connected through a broker. This means

the instance of a desktop operating system runs on a virtual machine in a server. If desktops are

run on virtual machines, their management can be carried out from a central location. This way,

the desktop environment of the user is also secured. Similarly, patching and other hardware and

software upgrades will take much less time.

This research paper solely focuses on building a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

using Xen Desktop on a VMware vSphere platform, and will also address the problem statement

discussed in the following section. The VDI infrastructure can be further extended to build a

Desktop as a Service platform.

Problem Statement

▪ Users load and run different applications on their desktops, which are out of reach for

troubleshooting. This can cause some difficulties, such as:

Very hard to support and no standard software is available

Hard to identify what programs are installed and hard to manage and configure

them

Data security and the risk of data loss is a possibility, which is an obvious

business loss for the company

▪ Compliance to IT security is compromised

▪ One machine for multiple users so resources are shared

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▪ A single user can use all the resources such as CPU and memory

▪ Multiple users need multiple applications, which can be conflicting

This paper shows a solution to address the problems stated above.

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Chapter 2: Background and Literature Review

Desktop Virtualization

Desktop virtualization offers a way to centrally manage desktops, thereby allowing a

company to be in compliance with their security policies and restrict end users from installing

unauthorized software (Porter, 2010)

Similar to server virtualization, desktop virtualization depends on a thin layer of software

known as the hypervisor, which runs on physical server hardware and provides a platform where

administrators can manage and configure virtual machines (VMs). Here, every user will get a

VM with a different instance of the desktop operating system (OS) and the installed applications.

To the desktop OS, the applications, and the user, the VM does a fair job of impersonating a real

desktop machine (Knorr, 2010).

Xen desktop.

• Xen desktop allows windows applications and desktops as mobile services.

• It gives users a self-service portal where they can select an application from a pre-built

catalog from any device.

• It provides a high definition performance on mobile networks.

• It has a simple management platform that allows for faster deployment of desktops,

which is a cloud-ready platform (Citrix Product Documentation, 2015).

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Architecture

Figure 1. Citrix XenDesktop 7 Architecture (Anderson, 2013).

Desktop communication layers.

▪ User Layer

• Citrix Receiver

▪ Access Layer

• Citrix NetScaler

• Citrix StoreFront

▪ Control Layer

• Delivery Controller

• Machine Creation Services

• Citrix Provisioning Services

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• Hypervisor

• Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA)

▪ Resource Layer

• Applications

• Operating System Image

• Citrix User Profile Management (UPM)

• Policies

• Personal vDisk

▪ Management Layer

• Citrix Studio

• Citrix Director (Citrix XenDesktop 7.6 Blueprint, 2013).

New features in Xen desktop 7.

▪ Combined Infrastructure – Flexcast Management Architecture (FMA)

▪ Windows Server 2012 Support

▪ System Center 2012 SP1 Support

▪ Machine Creation Services for Windows Server OS

▪ App-V 5 Integration

• XenApp Steaming is available for Windows 7 and Server 2008R2 only

• XenApp Streaming is accomplished by publishing RADERUN command in the

console

▪ Profile Management in Citrix Policies

▪ Universal Printer Server Integration

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• Universal Printer Server

• Windows 2008 R2 SP1 Print Servers

• Windows 2008 32bit Print Servers

Figure 2. Xen desktop overview (Citrix XenDesktop 7.6 Blueprint, 2013).

Under the new architecture, XenDesktop and XenApp application delivery are integrated,

including management and delivery components, to give administrators a unified management

experience.

Director: Director is a web-based tool that enables IT support and help desk teams to

monitor an environment, troubleshoot issues before they become system-critical, and perform

support tasks for end users. Consumers can also view and interact with their session using

Microsoft Remote Assistance.

Receiver: Citrix Receiver is installed in devices which provides users with quick, secure,

self-service access to documents, applications, and desktops from any of the user's devices

including smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Citrix Receiver provides on-demand access to

Windows, Web, and Software as a Service (SaaS) applications.

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StoreFront: StoreFront authenticates users to sites hosting resources and manages stores

of desktops and applications that they access.

Studio: Studio is the management console that enables users to configure and manage

their deployment, eliminating the need for separate management consoles for managing the

delivery of applications and desktops. Studio provides various wizards to guide the process of

setting up an environment, creating workloads to host applications and desktops, and assigning

applications and desktops to users.

Delivery Controller: Installed on servers in the data center, the delivery controller

consists of services that communicate with the hypervisor to distribute applications and desktops,

authenticate and manage user access, and broker connections between users and their virtual

desktops and applications. The controller manages the state of the desktops, starting and stopping

them based on demand and administrative configuration. In some editions, the controller allows

the user to install profile management to manage user personalization settings in virtualized or

physical Windows environments. Each site has one or more delivery controllers.

XenServer: XenServer is an enterprise-class virtual machine infrastructure solution that

creates the foundation for delivering virtual desktops and offers advanced management features.

Multiple VMs can run on XenServer, which takes advantage of the advanced virtualization

features of the latest virtualization-enabled processors from Intel and AMD.

Delivery Agent (VDA): Installed on server or workstation operating systems, the VDA

enables connections for desktops and apps. For remote PC access, install the VDA on the office

PC.

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Machine Creation Services: A collection of services that work together to create virtual

desktops from a master desktop image on demand, optimizing storage utilization, and providing

a pristine virtual desktop to users every time they log on.

Windows Server OS Machines: VMs or physical machines based on the Windows Server

operating system used for delivering applications or hosted shared desktops to users.

Desktop OS Machines: VMs or physical machines based on Windows Desktop operating

system used for delivering personalized desktops to users, or applications from desktop operating

systems.

Remote PC Access: User devices that are included on a white list, enabling users to

access resources on their office PCs remotely, from any device running Citrix Receiver.

Additional components provide the following features:

Secure delivery: When users connect from outside the corporate firewall, this release can

use Citrix NetScaler Gateway (formerly Access Gateway) technology to secure these

connections with Secure Socket Layer (SSL). NetScaler Gateway or NetScaler VPX virtual

appliance is an SSL Virtual Private Network (VPN) appliance that is deployed in the

demilitarized zone (DMZ) to provide a single secure point of access through the corporate

firewall.

WAN optimization—In deployments where virtual desktops are delivered to users at

remote locations such as branch offices, Citrix NetScaler CloudBridge (formerly Citrix Branch

Repeater or WANScaler) technology can be employed to optimize performance. Repeaters

accelerate performance across wide-area networks (WAN), so with Repeaters in the network,

users in the branch office experience Local Area Network (LAN) like performance over the

WAN. NetScaler CloudBridge can prioritize different parts of the user experience so that, for

Page 16: Creating Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Using Xen Desktop

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example, the user experience does not degrade in the branch location when a large file or print

job is sent over the network. Xen Desktop WAN Optimization with NetScaler CloudBridge

provides tokenized compression and data de-duplication, dramatically reducing bandwidth

requirements and improving performance. For more information, see the Citrix NetScaler

CloudBridge documentation (Citrix Product Documentation, 2015).

What has Changed?

The meaning behind acronym VDA has been changed from Virtual Desktop Agent to

Virtual Delivery Agent. The VDA is the piece of software that is installed on the physical or

virtual system that users will connect to. The change was made to reflect the fact that users can

now deliver desktops and applications from VDAs with both desktop and server operating

systems.

Additionally, the Quick Deploy option has been removed. Quick Deploy was an initial

setup wizard that was run through the Citrix Studio console and did everything required to bring

up an environment with provisioned desktops within a few minutes. The problem was that all

components needed to be installed on the same system and there were limited configuration

options, so Quick Deploy wasn’t often used.

Storefront is now the official standard platform for accessing resources in a XenDesktop

environment. It replaces Web Interface, which was end-of-life by 2015. Using Web Interface

with this release is not supported.

There are no longer any device drivers on the controller. Previously, there existed a driver

for diagnostic tracing; however, this code has been moved to user space. Now, when upgrading

from a previous version, a reboot is not required. This also improves system stability.

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Desktops: Deliver managed desktops to multiple, simultaneously connected remote users.

Server OS Machine and Desktop OS Machine desktops provide features such as session

reliability and Desktop Viewer. This release introduces Windows Server OS Machine catalogs

and desktops, and also provides a remote PC desktop that lets users access resources on their

office PCs remotely from any device running Citrix Receiver.

Applications: Integrates XenApp publishing capabilities within a deployment that

delivers shared hosted applications to multiple, simultaneously-connected remote users (Citrix

XenDesktop 7.6 Blueprint, 2013).

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Xen desktop terminology installation phase.

Current Terms Purpose

Delivery Controller

A server-side component responsible for distributing

desktops and applications to users, managing user

access through policies, power managing desktops, and

rebooting cycles for servers.

Deprecated Terms: DDC, XD Broker, XA Controller,

Data Collector, XML Broker, Legacy Broker (IMA),

Flexcast Broker, XenDesktop Controller

Delivery agent

Software agent installed on the virtual or physical

machine (RemotePC) and provides the virtual desktop

or application to the user. It enables the machines to

register with delivery controllers and manage the

connection between the machines and the user devices.

Deprecated terms: Virtual desktop agent

Citrix Studio

Management console that allows administrators to

create and manage infrastructure and resources to

deliver to desktops and applications.

Deprecated terms: Desktop Studio

Citrix Director

Monitors the console providing detailed trends and

diagnostic information on applications and desktops, in

addition to providing a detailed and intuitive overview

of Excalibur environments. Support and helpdesk

teams can use it to quickly identify and resolve

problems affecting users. Administrators can monitor

and troubleshoot at the system level with performance,

session usage data, and configuration changes.

Deprecated terms: Desktop Director

(Citrix Product Documentation, 2015)

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Xen desktop terminology: The infrastructure configuration phase.

Current Terms Purpose

Site

The core Excalibur environment consisting of the

delivery controller and database. The closest equivalent

in a XenApp deployment is a Zone. Please note that

there are some differences, and these should be called

out for XenApp administrators.

Deprecated terms: Branch, Grid, Production Farm,

Design Validation Farm, Pilot Farm

XenApp Web Site, XenApp Services Site, Zne

Connection

Connection between the delivery controller and the

provider of the resources. The resources are available

through an XS Server pool, Hypervisor Management

Server vCenter or SCVMM, or a cloud provider (e.g.

AWS or CloudStack)

Deprecated terms: Virtualization Settings, Host, Host

Connection

Resources

Compute (in case of vSphere or SCVMM), storage and

networking resources for hosting and delivering

applications and desktops.

Deprecated terms: Virtualization Settings

Database*

Collective name for the three databases:

• Monitoring Database

• Configuration Logging Database

• Site Configuration Database

Stores all the configuration, session, logging, and

monitoring information for a Site.

Deprecated terms: IMA Datastore (XA), FMA

Database (XD), Default Database

Existing Database, Logging Database, Data Store, Site

Database

Machine

Physical or virtual machine used to deliver applications

and desktops to the end user; the machine to which the

user connects.

Deprecated terms: Session Host, Worker, Server,

Workload Machine, Single-session Machines, Multi-

session Machines, VDI Machine, RDS Machine,

Does Not Replace: Server, Virtual Machine, Physical

Machine

(Citrix Product Documentation, 2015)

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Xen desktop—The resource configuration phase.

Current Terms Purpose

Master Image

An installed instance of a server or desktop operating

system, including all the applications installed and the

VDA (optional). The master image can be duplicated

using a provisioning technology to create machines

that can host applications and desktops to end users.

Deprecated Terms: Golden Image, Base Image,

Master VM, Image

Does Not Replace: Operating System, Virtual

Machine, Image, Template, Snapshot

Machine Catalog

A collection of machines. These machines could have

been created from the same master image; the

provisioning technology and process must ensure that

each machine has a unique identity (in Active

Directory and on the network.) Can be used to create

applications and desktop for users.

Deprecated terms: Assignment, Application Desktop

Group, Assignments (Same as Desktop Groups), Pool,

Collection, Desktop Catalog, Workload Catalog,

Workload, Workload Group, Bundle, Service Offering,

Service, Plan, Service Catalog, Silo, Application Silo,

Distribution Group, User Group

Machine Creation Services

Services that run on the delivery controller and uses a

master image to create a server or desktop machine(s)

with a unique identity on the network and in Active

Directory.

Provisioning Service Service that allows the administrator to create virtual or

physical instances of desktop or server machines.

Desktop

The instance of an operating system delivered to the

end user’s device and that the end user interacts with.

Does Not Replace: Operating System, Virtual

Machine, Master Image

Machine

Any physical or virtual machine managed by

Excalibur.

Deprecated terms: Session Host, Worker, Server,

Workload Machine

Does Not Replace: Operating System, Virtual

Machine or VM, Master Image

(Citrix Product Documentation, 2015)

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Xen desktop: Resource assignment phase.

Current Terms Purpose

Delivery Group

The machine(x) used to deliver applications and/or

desktops to a specific group of users.

Deprecated terms: Desktop Groups

Application

The instance of a software application that runs on the

end user’s client device or virtual desktop.

Policy

A feature for controlling connection, security, and

bandwidth settings.

Deprecated terms: HDX Policy, Citrix Policy

System requirements.

Component System details Requirements

Delivery Controller Supported OS: Windows Server 2012,

Windows Server 2008 R2

(Standard/Enterprise)

Disk space: 100 MB;

Microsoft .NET

Framework 3.5 SP1;

Microsoft .NET 4.0;

Windows PoSH 2.0 or

3.0 ; ASP.NET 2.0 and

Internet Information

Services (IIS); Visual

C++ 2008 SP1

Redistributable Package

Site database

Supported SQL Server: SQL Server

2012; SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1

(Express/Standard/Enterprise/Datacenter

editions)

Studio

Supported OS: Windows 8, Windows 7,

Windows Server 2012, Windows Server

2008 R2

Disk space: 75 MB;

Microsoft .NET

Framework 3.5 SP1;

Microsoft Management

Console 3.0; Windows

PowerShell 2.0 or 3.0

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Director

Supported OS: Windows Server 2012,

Windows Server 2008 R2

(Standard/Enterprise)

Disk space: 50

MB;Microsoft .NET

Framework 4.0;

Microsoft Internet

Information Services

(IIS) and ASP.NET 2.0;

Browsers: Internet

Explorer 8 and 9;

Firefox 14 and 15

Delivery Agent (DA)

Supported OS: Windows Desktops

(Windows 8, Windows 7

Enterprise/Professions Editions);

Windows Servers (Windows Server

2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

Datacenter/Enterprise and Standard

Editions)

Host

Supported hosts: XS 6.0.2; Vmware

vSphere 5.0 (ESXi 5.0 and vCenter 5.0),

VMWare vSphere 4.1 Update1;

SCVMM 2012 Rollup 1

vSphere.

vSphere, just like Xen Desktop, is a package of many components which includes

important features like:

• ESXi

• vCenter Server

• HA

• DRS (VMware, Inc., 2015b).

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ESXi. ESXi is an industry-leading bare metal or type 1 hypervisor which otherwise is

called a virtualization software or OS. It allows us to create and run multiple operating systems.

Figure 3. ESXi architecture (VMware, Inc., 2015a).

vCenter Server. The vCenter Server is a single page management tool which can

manage multiple virtual machines and ESXi servers running in a data center.

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Figure 4. vCenter (Lee, 2011)

High availability. High availability is a solution from VMware which can be used to

recover virtual machines from a failed ESXi server to a running ESXi server in the same cluster.

Figure 5. High-level architecture of HA (Epping, 2010).

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Distributed resource scheduler. This is a solution from VMware which can be used to

load balance the cluster and take care of initial placement of virtual machines.

Figure 6. Working of DRS (Hosts, Clusters, and Resource Pools, 2009).

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Chapter 3: Methodology

Working of Xen Desktop

In XenDesktop 7, the merging of XenDesktop and XenApp into a single architecture and

management has occurred. This means all hosted desktops and applications can be managed

through a single console and can also be delivered through a single console. All the Xen App

features will now be delivered through Xen Desktop.

Essential Elements for Xen Desktop site include:

▪ One or more desktop controllers

▪ Citrix License Server

▪ Storefront (Web interface)

▪ Site database

▪ Desktop Studio and Desktop Director

▪ Regardless of the size of the deployment, Xen Desktop site also requires:

• Domain Controller running Active Directory

• Virtual desktops managed by a hypervisor

• Access Gateway (if the desktop is accessed remotely)

• User devices running Citrix receiver

▪ For PVS, we need CITRIX Provisioning Services.

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Setup Process Flowchart

Figure 7. Xen desktop process flowchart

Step by step configuration of Xen desktop.

1. Install Desktop delivery controller

2. Configure the site (hypervisor required for creating virtual desktops)

3. Install and configure License Server and StoreFront

4. Create a master image on the hypervisor and install the VDA on the master image

5. Create a catalog (required OS and resource requirements for each desktop)

6. Publish the virtual desktops to end users by creating a delivery group

7. Install and configure Citrix Director for monitoring purpose

8. Install Citrix Receiver on end client devices to access the virtual desktops

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Figure 8. Components of Xen desktop 7 (Citrix XenDesktop 7.6 Blueprint, 2013).

Hardware and Software Requirements

▪ 1 Domain controller

▪ 2 Servers with 16 GB RAM

• 2 x HP Proliant DL 360 e Gen 8 servers

▪ 2 VMware ESXi Servers

▪ 1 x Dell PowerVault MD 3200i ISCSI storage

▪ vCenter Server on a Windows machine

▪ Windows VM for installing Citrix studio, director, StoreFront, License Server.

▪ Citrix Xen Desktop

▪ SQL database for vCenter Server and Xen Desktop

▪ Windows 7 or 8 client machine for creating a master image

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Implementation

ESXi installation.

1. Create a virtual machine.

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2. Click Next. Select OS as Other (64 bit), as ESXi is not listed.

3. Select the number of CPU required.

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4. Select the amount of RAM required.

5. Mount ESXi 5.5 image and click Next.

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6. Power the virtual machine to ON to start installing ESXi.

7. Click Enter to continue with the installation.

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8. Accept the End User License Agreement and click F11 to continue.

9. Click on F11 to start the installation. Once the installation is complete, click on

Reboot.

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10. Configure the ESXi. The installation is complete.

vCenter integration with Xen desktop. From Active Directory Users and Computers,

create a Citrix Desktop domain service account

1. Log into VMware vCenter Client with admin rights

2. Navigate to Home >> Administration >> Roles

3. Create a new Security Role for XenDesktop Access

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4. Configure the Xen Desktop security role with the permissions required by Citrix Xen

Desktop server.

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5. Navigate to Home >> Inventory >> Hosts & Clusters >> vCenter >> Permissions tab

Assign XenDesktop Access security role to XenDesktop Service Account.

Next, the Virtual Center certificate must be installed on each delivery controller.

1. Log into the Citrix Delivery Controller Server as a user with administrative rights

2. Download and install the VMware vCenter server certificate. To do this, complete the

following:

• Launch Internet Explorer and browse to the VMware vCenter URL. Click

Continue to this website (not recommended).

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• From the address bar, click on Certificate Error and select View Certificates.

• From the Certificate Properties window, click the Details tab and click Copy to

File.

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• Click Next

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• Select the DER encoded binary X.509 (.CER) option and click Next

• Store the certificate on the local disk and click Next

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• Click Finish

• Navigate to the saved location and double click on the certificate to view the

properties window. From here, click Install Certificate.

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• Select Local Machine and click Next.

From the Certificate Store screen, complete the following:

• Select the Place all certificates in the following store option

• From the browse button, select Trusted People

• Click Next

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• Click Finish

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• Repeat the steps above for all delivery controllers

Now that we have prepared the environment and assigned permissions, we are now ready

to create the VMware connection in Citrix Studio.

1. Launch Citrix Studio >> Configuration >> Hosting >> Add Connections and

Resources

2. From the Connection screen, complete the information as per the screenshot below

and then click Next

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3. From the Resources screen, complete the following:

• Enter a name for the resources

• Select a cluster where new VMs will be provisioned

• Select the Networks that can be used by Citrix VMs

• Click Next

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4. Select the Datastores you want to allow Citrix to use and click Next

• Click Finish

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45

5. Ensure the similar details are seen in Configuration >> Hosting as per the screenshot

below:

Xen Desktop Installation

Installation in first server. XenDesktop 7 ISO is downloaded and copied on the Dell

storage box LUN. Windows 2012 VM is created and XD is installed on it. Double click Launch

the Installer and click on START.

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• Click on Delivery Controller

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47

• Click Next

• StoreFront will be installed on a separate server. On this VM Delivery controller,

Studio, Director, and License Server will be selected. Click Next.

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• Click Next.

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49

• Click Next

• Click Install

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• Unselect Launch Studio and click Finish

Installing in second server. The same steps for the previous section have been followed

to install on the second server, but StoreFront and License Server have been deselected on the

core components page.

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51

• On the Features screen, uncheck Install Microsoft SQL Server 2012

Now Desktop Studio is ready to launch and start Xen Desktop site configuration.

Configuring Citrix studio site.

• Click on Get started! on the Desktop Studio welcome screen.

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• A full site will be created. Select the default option and click Next.

• The setup wizard will auto-populate the database name based upon the site name

configured in previous steps.

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• Leave the default settings on the license page. A 30-day free trial is included with

the installer. A proper license can be added later.

• In the connections page, select None as the host type. A hypervisor connection

will be established later.

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• As this research paper is focused on Xen Desktop, APP-V publishing will be

ignored. Click Next.

• Click Finish

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Installing the operating system. Install a new operating system, update it with all

security patches and make all necessary changes to the system, configure security hardening, and

join the computer to the domain.

Configure virtual delivery agent software. Mount the XD ISO on the machine and

double click Start the Installer. Prechecks of the compatible options are available for that OS.

Virtual Desktop Agent will be installed.

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• Leave to defaults and click Next.

• Leave the default options and press Next to continue.

Configure the Xen Desktop controller address and click on Test Connection to verify the

authenticity. Once successful, a green checkbox will be seen. Click on the Add button to add the

controller address to the list.

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• Perform the same step to add more controllers.

• Press Next to continue

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• Port numbers will be displayed and options to automatically create rules on the

Windows firewall will be available. Leave the options at default and click Next.

• Click on Install. Once the installation is complete, restart the computer.

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• Shut down the virtual machine and take a snapshot. Now the VDA is installed.

Configuring the delivery group.

• Open the Citrix Studio. Click Delivery Groups, and then click on Create Delivery

Group.

• Click Next

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• Select the existing machine catalog and enter the number of machines to be

added. Click Next to continue.

• Select the delivery type to the desktops, as this research paper focuses on creating

virtual desktops. Click Next to continue.

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• Add users and click Next to continue.

• Create the StoreFront address to be configured in the next step. Click Next.

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• Click Next to continue.

• Enter the delivery group name and click Finish to continue.

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• Now a delivery group has been created. Double click on the delivery group to

display the machines created. The entire powered-on machines should be in

registered status.

Installing Citrix StoreFront.

• Mount XD ISO, launch it and click on Citrix StoreFront to install it.

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• Accept the end user license agreement and click Next.

• Click Next to continue.

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• Click Next to continue.

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Configuring StoreFront.

• Launch the Desktop StoreFront and click on Create a New Deployment on the

welcome screen.

• Enter the base URL for the server with StoreFront installed. Click Next to

continue.

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• Create a store name and click Next.

• Click the Add button to add a delivery controller.

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• Enter the controller information and click OK.

• On the Remote Access page, select None and click Next to continue.

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• Click Finish to close the configuration wizard.

• Click on the Stores node to look at the display configuration details. These display

options can be modified by clicking on the actions.

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• Click on Authentication and then click on Configure Trusted Domains in the

actions pane.

• Click on Add to add the domain information. Click OK to continue.

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• Click on Manage Passwords Options and choose whether the users can change

the password and different options. Click OK to continue.

• Click Disable Method in the actions pane and select the required option for

authentication. Click OK to continue.

Installing Citrix receiver.

Citrix Receiver will be available on the XD ISO.

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Configuring Citrix receiver. There are two ways to connect to the desktop once the

receiver installation is completed. One method is to use the full receiver client and the other is to

utilize a web browser to access the StoreFront website. Double click Launch the Receiver and

enter the StoreFront server address.

• When the receiver can find StoreFront, the server authentication dialog box will

be displayed. Log in using domain credentials.

• Once authentication is successful, options to optimize client configuration will be

available. Click Yes.

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• When the optimization process is completed, the successful message will be

displayed. Click Finish to continue.

• When connected, the blank page is displayed. Click the + sign to continue.

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• A list of all desktops and applications that have been published is now visible (if

StoreFront has been configured with XenApp controllers, all published

applications will be displayed on this list as well). Click on Available Desktop to

add it the Receiver landing page.

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• Click on the desktop icon to launch the virtual desktop, which automatically logs

into the user’s desktop without any additional authentication prompts.

• Click on the Desktop Tool Viewer on the top of the desktop, once the desktop

connection is successful.

• Click on the Desktop Viewer toolbar and select Preferences.

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• Select Display to modify the display settings.

• Select File Access to configure the access mode to files on your computer.

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• Click Flash to configure the settings for content designed for Flash Player.

o Click Mic & Webcam to configure the settings for voice and webcams.

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Xen Desktop installation is now complete, and desktops can be tested (Citrix Systems,

Inc., 2015).

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Chapter 4: Analysis of Results

Although deploying Citrix XenDesktop on VMware vSphere is not necessarily a brand

new concept, the actual configuration can become tedious and troublesome as I have experienced

while implementing the same. Since I was using the new version of XenDesktop, I always came

across licensing issues. Also, I had to make sure that my infrastructure met the requirements for

vSphere 5.1 and XenDesktop 7.1. Defining two separate clusters for Citrix and VMware was an

additional decision that had to be made after a series of errors were encountered. After hours of

research on this subject, an absolute need of a Domain Controller was established to provide

virtual machines with the appropriate permissions.

XenDesktop and VMware vSphere are an industry-leading virtualization combination

which every enterprise is starting to use as a blend to build both server and desktop virtualization

solutions. With each release of the products, both the companies are enhancing the product

features to solve and enhance the issues faced by having a physical desktop environment.

The findings of this study further prove that it is possible to modify XenDesktop and

VMware vSphere technologies, which was something that remained somewhat unknown to

many for a period of time. That is, even though XenDesktop and VMware vSphere technologies

are significantly older innovations, the original creators of virtual systems employing the two

different software doubted whether the scheme could work after alterations. For instance, this is

shown by the innovators' conclusion that XenDesktop can only launch and work well in

‘smaller’ devices while coupled with the ‘Quick Launch’ feature. However, the study shows that

this is not the case. The application utilized in this study worked excellently, save for the tedious

and troublesome configuration encountered when installing XenDesktop and VMware vSphere

into the ‘users’ devices.

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The conducted study also shows that the combination of XenDesktop and VMware

vSphere can run on a broader range of machines than was previously believed. The literature

review section shows that the two applications were thought to only run only on the 2012

Window servers. As such, the study indicates that even earlier versions of Windows can support

the virtual server and desktop application. Examples of these include Windows 2007 and 2008.

Such realization is critical, especially when understanding that virtualization is rapidly gaining

traction in the information technology sector.

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Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion

This paper focused entirely on building a Xen Desktop 7.1 environment on the vSphere

5.1. Intense research was conducted to gather data from both Citrix and VMware technologies.

Every component required to build a successful desktop virtualization platform has been

discussed in this research paper.

Desktop virtualization is becoming one of the most effective technologies among many

institutions. The fact that many contemporary businesses surface restraining resources,

indeterminate financing and stricter data security laws force them to adopt desktop virtualization.

The new technology permits organizations to run modest, profitable, and safe ways for engaging

workers. Employees belonging to businesses with desktop virtualization technology readily

access applications, as well as resources required to execute their work tasks from whatever

devices and location.

The term ‘virtual desktop infrastructure’ (VDI) connotes to a system where a user utilizes

a computing machine that runs on remotely stored applications, or ‘desktop environments’. The

applications in such a system are stored in a server, instead of a local PC. The ‘desktop

virtualization software’ splits the desktop OS, applications, and data from the clients’ hardware

by storing all of these on an isolated server. The ‘remote server’ then operates and backs virtual

desktops using the hypervisor to establish a ‘simulated machine’ that mimics an ordinary desktop

environment and competences. Users engaged in a ‘virtual desktop environment’ thus use their

own desktops tenuously either through the Internet or via a client device.

Desktop virtualization is used today by numerous businesses to solve critical

technological problems. The innovation offers profound benefits; an example of these paybacks

concerns the reduction in cost involved in running businesses. Both hardware and software

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management and services in an organization require a significant amount of money. The latter

needs continuous updating and reinstallation in case software becomes outdated. The Kaspersky

antivirus is an excellent example of such software that organizations need to spend on yearly.

Adopting desktop virtualization thus solves such issues. A business only needs to buy one piece

of software for the server and then let the other user computers utilize it. Additionally,

organizations employing desktop virtualization technology would do not need to buy programs

for all machines available in the business (e.g., Microsoft Windows Office Suite). Actions such

as these end up cutting down operations cost and, in turn, boosting the level of profitability in an

institution.

Virtual desktop infrastructure further helps in enhancing security in an organization. The

twenty-first century is commonly known as the digital era. Key to note is the fact that

technological innovations experienced today have both advantages and disadvantages. One of the

significant issues with the growth in technology concerns data insecurity. Issues such as

accounts’ hacking, cyberbullying, and ransom attacks have become extremely costly for

businesses. Desktop virtualization thus aids by offering reliable means through which data

insecurity can be mitigated. Many potential attackers utilize employees’ accounts or devices to

hack organizations’ systems. This has been possible in the past as many employees’ personal

computers that were used to access company accounts and information ran on independent

applications. However, the illegal practice is quickly dying courtesy of VDI. Hackers targeting

personal computers operating on a remote server hardly find business information in the

employees’ computers. The innovation thus offers significant benefits to businesses.

Organizations operating a VDI only seek to secure a single system, which makes data security

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easy and comprehensive. All these prove the usefulness and reliability of virtual desktop

infrastructure.

Virtual desktop infrastructure also promotes data accessibility and thus safeguards

businesses and employees from the problems caused by individual user computer breakdown.

VDI enables workers to access business information from a central point without having to

install programs into their personal machines. All that the workers do is launch the Citrix

applications and desktops from whatever device and location. The personal computers utilize

applications and desktop app from the remote server. A breakdown of a single ‘client’ computer,

therefore, hardly impacts the performance of the business. The same failure also will not mean

that the owner of the machine cannot work. This is because the crashed user’s computer hardly

contains any stored files or applications. The specific employee whose computer has stopped

working needs to acquire a new device and continue working. Such is an excellent way of

avoiding headaches brought about by computer failure in businesses. Being able to avoid the

challenge thus proves the importance of VDI.

Organizations also manage to enjoy increased productivity due to desktop virtualization.

This comes mainly through increased employee productivity. VDI allows workers to work from

virtually all points of the globe. It is also possible for employees to use all sorts of devices to

conduct work. The present study’s realization that VDI can work on a broader range of devices

proves this. Allowing employees to work from various points also means enabling them to work

for more extended hours. This longer duration of commitment can increase the level of

productivity. The fact that VDI enables businesses to utilize reduced software packages further

combines with the increased productivity to promote the level of productivity of an organization.

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The same impact is also brought about by the aspect of heightened security due to the use of

virtual desktop applications.

The reduction of the number of software operated by an organization to one also aids in

the simplification of business management. VDI enables companies to manage virtually all

aspects from a central point. Data, one of the most critical elements in an organization, is, for

instance, easily controlled by companies utilizing VDI. Issues such as intellectual property

security hardly bother companies with desktop virtualization in the same way as organizations

that operate manually. Virtual desktops eradicate the necessity to install, update applications,

back up files, as well as, scan for ‘infections’ on discrete client computers. Additional advantage

concerning VDI’s management simplification also touches on the streamlining of software

assets’ management. VDI enables organizations to track all company certificates and

formulations. It is also possible for entities to restrict the sharing of some information while

using VDIs. The ‘Delivery Controller’ in the XenDesktop and VMware vSphere virtual desktop,

for instance, tracks, as well as, restricts the content of information sharable between the ‘client’

computer and the server.

Virtual desktop infrastructure helps significantly in promoting the green economy. The

technology aids in the creation of the so-called ‘thin clients.’ These are computers that exist

without heavy applications and which require almost half of the energy needed by ordinary

machines (fat clients) to operate. In some cases, the power consumption is reduced by 70%.

Some computer operations are ‘heavy’ and thus require more energy to launch and run. VDI

saves power by mandating a single server with the responsibility of running applications for the

other devices in the setup. It not only costs a fraction of the amount an ordinary PC would do,

but the durability factor also plays a major role as the typical output from implementing VDI

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would be at least 6 years, which cannot be determined for a normal PC. The reduction in energy

demand implies a reduced dependence on non-renewable energy such as coal. That further

supports the ‘going green initiative.’ China, for example, relies on coal among other non-

renewable energy sources to power its industries. The fact that China is the global leader in

technological innovations thus means that the nation cut down its power consumption by almost

a third by adopting VDI. The same case applies to the United States, which relies on a significant

number of computerized systems to manage its operations. For any company that has a large

number of users, the combination of costs from support along with costs from power

consumption tells us that there is an obvious need for more cost-effective desktop computing.

After receiving data on cost and environmental benefits coming from server virtualization, the

use of VDI is growing among the IT departments in organizations.

VDI offers an adequate solution to organizations such as banks and hospitals that operate

under stricter laws regarding customers’ data protection. A majority of studies show that ransom

attackers today focus their efforts towards hospitals, banks, large manufacturing companies, and

higher learning institutions. The fact that virtually all hospitals in developed economies are

migrating to the electronic record management system further means that the threat of attacks is

also escalating. This exposes the organizations to increased pressure, especially due to the

governments demand that all clients’ personal data must be accorded the utmost security. Any

facility failing to uphold their security policies faces not only severe consequences from the state

but also acquires negative publicity. A majority of the attacks on these institutions emanate from

employees’ logged-in accounts that are mistakenly left open. Other incidences are also believed

to occur through stolen job computers. All these situations can be managed by adopting VDI.

The technology can minimize attacks because of its ability to operate centrally controlled

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applications and desktops, thus leaving the ‘steal-able’ computer as mere vessels with no

significant details that can lead to cases of hacking.

IT departments are facing a challenge in increasing costs with exponential growth in

businesses and running applications that desire a sustainable and flexible work environment to

get a competitive advantage. Desktop virtualization is a solution to all these concerns, reducing

costs by enabling remote support of the entire infrastructure, dropping power consumption, and

providing flexible work strategies. Moreover, VDI seems to be a good solution to all the IT

related issues. The only problem now is the introduction of policies and plans to build such a

virtualized infrastructure without which we cannot achieve cost control or a green economy.

Future Work Recommendation

As per my research, only a small amount of production environments is based on both

Citrix and VMware, and not enough materials can be found with information on how to integrate

them. For future research, I would suggest more investigation on the integration of these two

virtualization technologies. There has to be a cost-effective way to combine them both to

improve the performance of virtual desktops. It is understandable that the integration could be

challenging because of the fact that both the technologies are ever evolving and new updates are

released every few weeks. For example, there is already a document on how to integrate Citrix

server farm in VMware identity manager console. The document suggests deployment and

configuration of an integration broker in a windows server and setting up a Citrix PowerShell

that will enable communication between the integration broker and the Citrix server. However,

hands-on implementation of such an idea remains to be seen.

Similarly, another great topic for research could be implementing VMware cloud on

AWS, which is compatible with Citrix virtual apps and desktop services. In theory, such

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integration is possible but it may come at a cost as it is known that VMware cloud on AWS is a

combination of computer, storage, network and also vCenter server management. It could be

very beneficial for businesses, as the IT specialists would not need to learn any new skills or

tools and would already be familiar with the usual VMware management tools.

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References

Anderson, F. (2013). XenDesktop 7 reference architecture newsflash: Cisco+NetApp. The Citrix

Blog. Retrieved from https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2013/06/24/xendesktop-7-reference-

architecture-newsflash-cisconetapp/.

Citrix Product Documentation. (2015). XenDesktop 7. Retrieved from https://docs.citrix.com/.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (2015). Deliver secure virtual apps and desktops. Retrieved from

https://www.citrix.com/products/xendesktop/overview.html

Citrix XenDesktop 7.6 Blueprint. (2013). Retrieved from https://www.citrix.fr/products/citrix-

virtual-apps-and-desktops/resources/.

Epping, D. (2010). HA deepdrive. Retrieved from http://vmusketeers.com/duncan-epping-

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Hosts, Clusters, & Resource Pools. (2009). Virtual Infrastructure 3.0 Online Library—VMware

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Knorr, E. (2010). What desktop virtualization really means. Infoworld. Retrieved from

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means.html.

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s-new-v5-5-to-v6-7.p3038.html.

Porter, G. (2010, October 17). Introduction to desktop virtualization. Retrieved from

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VMware, Inc. (2015). ESXi-Architecture-v5-bw. ESXi architecture. Retrieved from

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VMware, Inc., (2015). vSphere. Retrieved from VMware web site: http://www.vmware.com/

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